Player elimination board and dice game

ABSTRACT

A player elimination board and dice game having a board, two standard dice, nine flippers, and wherein flippers are chosen to be flipped according to the sum of the upper face value of two rolled dice or according to combinations of numbers which in sum equal the sum of the upper face value of the two rolled dice.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The instant invention relates to board games and moreparticularly to board games that utilize dice and elimination bymathematical mode.

BACKGROUND

[0002] People enjoy playing elimination dice games. Proficiency inmathematics is a useful skill. Numerous examples of games that employdice, and some form of mathematical application, are known to exist.

[0003] The following represents a list of known related art:

[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,126 to Merrit, issued Nov., 18,1997;

[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,330 to Spears, issued Sep. 2, 1997;

[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,331 to Boe, issued Feb. 25, 1997;

[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,732 to Taylor, issued Jun. 6, 1995;

[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 5,273,430 to Strychewski, issued Dec. 28, 1993;

[0009] U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,381 issued Winters, Jan. 5, 1993;

[0010] U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,740 to Odhner, issued Nov. 21, 1989;

[0011] U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,386 to Rosenthal, issued May 30, 1989;

[0012] U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,938 to Gray, issued Jan. 13, 1987;

[0013] U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,836 to Regis, issued Nov. 6, 1984; and

[0014] U.S. Pat. No. 4,359,227 to Porciello, issued Nov. 16, 1982.

[0015] The teachings of each of the above-listed citations (which doesnot itself incorporate essential material by reference) are hereinincorporated by reference. None of the above inventions and patents,taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe theinstant invention as claimed. Thus solving the aforementioned problemsis desired.

[0016] Heretofore, application of methods and articles with thefollowing characteristics have not been provided: (1) game play is notlimited by the number of players; (2) players use two standard die inconjunction with operations of rolling dice, adding the dice faces, andfiguring combinations of number pairs which equal the sum of the addeddie faces; (3) players are assigned scores based on the elimination ofnumbers which correspond to numerals on flippers; (4) play involvesstrategy and mathematical facility in selecting individual die numbers,dice sums, and dice combinations during play; and (5) the board,flippers, and dice tossing area are conveniently integrated and easy tomanufacture.

[0017] Therefore, it is highly desirable to create methods and articlesmeeting these needs and objects. Potential customers for the presentinvention include families, persons, toy stores, game stores, and anyperson or entity that plays games, sells games, markets games, etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the presentinvention.

[0019]FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of a flip.

[0020]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the presentinvention in play.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] Before beginning a detailed description of the subject invention,mention of the following is in order. When appropriate, like referencematerials and characters are used to designate identical, corresponding,or similar components in differing figure drawings. The figure drawingsassociated with this disclosure typically are not drawn with dimensionalaccuracy to scale, i.e., such drawings have been drafted with a focus onclarity of viewing and understanding rather than dimensional accuracy.

[0022] A board and dice game apparatus and method of play is provided.As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, board and dice game apparatus comprises aboard 10, a flipper support portion 12 connected to the board, nineflippers 14 movably connected to said flipper support portion, and twostandard six-sided die 16. Flippers can be flipped up 24 or down 22 andthe flippers are numbered from one to nine in sequence, one number to aflipper.

[0023] In the preferred embodiment, the board is octoganal with a base18, said base covered with a felt and enclosed by eight walls 20corresponding to the octoganal shape of the base, said walls for thepurpose of bouncing the dice off and keeping the dice within the boardafter tossing the dice. Flipper support apparatus is configured at thetop of, lateral to, one of the walls and can also be connected toadjacent walls, as shown in FIG. 1. The flipper support portion includesa bar 26 upon which the flippers are rotatably connected. Bar is set inopposite ends of the flipper support portion, either through holesdrilled in flipper support portion, or through cradles placed in flippersupport portion. Flippers are aligned on said bar, ready to be flipped,as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. In the preferred embodiment, the bar ismade of steel. The bar can also be made of wood or plastic or any metal.Similarly, the base, walls, flipper support portion, and flippers can beplastic or wood or metal, the preferred embodiment being wood. Theflippers can be any shape, provided the shape does not impede theflipability of said flippers. In the preferred embodiment, the flippersare rectangular.

[0024] In operation, the method of play follows a set of playing rules.There are no limit to the number of players who may participate in agame. Each player proceeds to play his or her turn in the followingmanner. All the flippers are set in the unflipped position, as shown inFIG. 1. The player rolls two dice, trying to eliminate all flippers byflipping them down. The player adds the upper face value of the two dieto get a sum, and then eliminates the flipper or flippers correspondingto any two real nonnegative integers which add up to the sum of theupper face values of the two die. Alternatively, the player can chooseto eliminate the flipper denominated with the numeral equal in value tothe sum of the two upper face values of the dice, if that sum is “9” orless. An example includes a player who roles the two dice, and the upperface value of the first die is “3”, and the upper face value of thesecond die is “4”, with the sum of the two upper face values equal to“7”. Accordingly, the player can flip the flippers denominated “1” and“6”, or “5” and “2”, or “4” and “3”, or the flipper denominated “7”, asshown in FIG. 3. The player continues to role until the player can nolonger match unused flipper numerals. The highest denominated flipperthat remains unflipped is assigned to be the player's low score. Thisprocess is repeated for all players. The player with the lowest assignedscore after all of the players have had a turn is the winner. If thereis a tie, then no winner is declared and all players are tied. In caseof a tie, the game is started over. This is continued until a winner isdeclared.

[0025] It is understood that modifications of the invention, in itsvarious aspects, will be apparent to those skilled in the art, somebeing apparent only after study, others being matters of routinemechanical, chemical and electronic design. No single feature, functionor property of the preferred embodiment is essential. Other embodimentsare also possible, their specific designs depending upon the particularapplication. As such, the scope of the invention should not be limitedby the particular embodiments herein described but should be definedonly by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

I claim:
 1. A board and dice game apparatus comprising: a. A board; b. Aflipper support portion connected to said board; c. Nine flippersmovably connected to said flipper support portion, wherein said flippersare numbered, from one to nine, one number per flipper, for a total ofnine numbered flippers; and d. Two six-sided die, each die beingnumbered on each side of die from one to six, with each numbercorresponding to a side of each die.
 2. The game apparatus of claim 1,wherein the board comprises: a. a base; and b. a plurality of wallsconnected to and encircling said base.
 3. The game apparatus of claim 1or 2, wherein the flipper support portion includes a bar, wherein saidflippers are rotatably connected to said bar, and said bar is disposedalong the length of one of said walls.
 4. A method of playing a boardand dice game, comprising the steps of: a. Tossing two six-sidednumbered die; b. Adding the numbers on the tops sides of the two tosseddie; C. Flipping the flipper or flippers corresponding to: I. The numberequaling the sum of said added numbers; or II. The two numbers which insum equal the sum of said added numbers; d Repeating each of saidforegoing steps a-c until no flipper can be flipped; e. Assigning to theplayer a number equal to the number on the highest denominated unflippedflipper; f. Repeating each of said foregoing steps a-e for the secondand remaining players in the game, until all players have an assignednumber; g. In the event that the lowest assigned number is held by twoor more players, repeating steps a-f until only one player has thelowest assigned number; and h. Declaring the player with the lowestnumbered player to be the winner.